Shaili Singh proved that her reputation as the next big thing in Indian athletics was not misplaced, the 6.48m leap giving her the long jump gold in the National inter-State athletics championships on Saturday. but the 17-year old is focused firmly on the World Junior Championships later this year.
The jump will place the 17-year-old in the joint top spot in the IAAF rankings in the Under-18 category this year. Training under Anju and Bobby George, Shaili is expected to be a strong medal contender at the World juniors in Kenya in August.
It wasn’t as happy a homecoming for high-jumper Tejaswin Shankar, however, as he could only do 2.20m in his first meet at home in three years. Although it was good enough for gold, it was his lowest jump this season.
With Hima Das faltering in the 100m heats in the morning and pulling out of the competition, the much-awaited showdown with Dutee Chand did not happen. But it did not matter as Tamil Nadu’s Dhanalakshmi proved her victory in the Federation Cup was no fluke, winning in 11.52s under lights here. “I am happy to win but I was targeting 11.15s for Tokyo because I have been clocking under-11 in hand timings,” she said.
Among the men, 22-year-old Gurindervir Singh broke the meet record in 10.27s.
The results: Men: 100m: 1. Gurindervir Singh (Pun, 10.27s), 2. Lovepreet Singh (Pun, 10.47), 3. Amiya Mallick (Odi, 10.49); 400mH: 1. Jabir MP (Ker, 49.78s), 2. Sathish K (TN, 51.90), 3. Pravin Kumar (TN, 52.77); High jump: 1. Tejaswin Shankar (Del, 2.20m), 2. Geo Jos (Ker, 2.15m), 3. Aromal T (Ker, 2.15m); Hammer throw: Damneet Singh (Pun, 62.03m), Niraj Kumar (Raj (60.28), Ravi (Har, 57.92m).
Women: 100m: 1. Dhanalakshmi (TN, 11.52s), 2. Amasha de Silva (SL, 11.59), 3. Archana Suseendran (11.60); 400mH: 1. Salini (Ker, 1:01.63), 2. Khushdeep Kaur (Pun, 1:04.52), 3. Nirmal Punia (Har, 1:05.68); Long jump: 1. Shaili Singh (UP, 6.48m), 2. Sherin A (TN, 6.26m), 3. Renu (Har, 6.17m); Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Pun, 16.95m), 2. Srishti Vig (Del, 15.96m), 3. Kiran Baliyan (UP, 15.75m).
